When you feel shoulder pain, you will likely rush to home remedies that work for the pain. However, you might have noticed that the pain and injury do not heal with the home remedies sometimes. You should see a doctor when you have a shoulder injury, and you could ask for an expert in shoulder injuries in La, Jolla. Your orthopedic doctor will conduct a diagnosis and customized treatment for shoulder pain, and it could help if you show them your medical history.
Table of Contents
Diagnosis of a shoulder injury
Your orthopedic doctor will press your shoulder to determine the painful parts and those possibly injured. Squeezing the shoulder joint determines the strength of the muscles, tendons, and range of motion. In some cases, the orthopedic doctor might not thoroughly diagnose the shoulder injury by entirely pressing. They would need to conduct imaging tests that involve X-ray visualization of the bone structure and other abnormal lumps. The ultrasound used in the shoulder joint, on the other hand, helps the doctor to see the images of structures within the shoulder. For more critical details, your doctor could opt for MRI, which uses strong magnetic and radio waves to illustrate the organs.
Treatment of the shoulder injury in the hospital
Injections
If the shoulder pain is chronic, your orthopedic doctor might recommend nerve-blocking epidural injections that work on the exact location. The infusion could prevent the nerves from receiving pain receptors from the brain and transmitting the brain’s pain. The nerve block might be better for patients who have pain that interferes with their sleep and reduces their quality of life. Although the pain-blocking injections might be useful, they could weaken the tendons and lower the surgery’s success and thus should be used temporarily as you wait for further treatment.
Therapy
Physical therapy would work for shoulders that might be injured and treated effectively using other medical procedures. It is useful as a recovery tool after rotator cuff surgery, and you should start the therapy slowly and increase the intensity once the pain has subdued.
Surgery
Your orthopedic doctor might insert a camera through small incisions to determine the shoulder’s parts that could need reattaching. They might consider having open tendon repair and tendon transfer if the tendons are too damaged to be repaired. You might have the whole shoulder replaced in some instances, especially if the rotator cuffs are severely damaged.
How to prepare for the doctor’s appointment
You could start by seeing a sports medicine expert or a family doctor who might recommend further treatment. If the shoulder pain has been recurrent, it could be wise to have previous treatment records when seeing an orthopedic doctor. Some of the essential things to remember at the orthopedic office include the intensity of the pain, movement activities in the shoulder, and all the symptoms.
The bottom line
Although home remedies for shoulder pain could help elevate the pain, they might not be useful if severely injured. You could see a doctor when you have chronic pain to know if you have a severe injury or medical conditions such as arthritis. Your orthopedic doctor will offer customized treatment and proper diagnosis for shoulder pain.